Ryan Murphy won the 200-meter backstroke at the U.S. Olympic Swimming Trials on Thursday in the fastest time in the world this year, putting him close to winning the 100-meter and 200-meter backstroke double at the Paris Olympics.
Murphy, 28, held off a fierce late challenge from 19-year-old Keaton Jones to win in 1:54.33. Jones clocked 1:54.61 to beat Jack Akins, who finished outside the top two in the 100 backstroke that Murphy won.
Regan Smith and Kate Douglas will also be looking to earn their second straight win in Paris after winning their second game of the week at Lucas Oil Stadium, home of the NFL's Indianapolis Colts.
Murphy, who won gold medals in two backstroke events at the 2016 Rio Olympics but only managed a silver and a bronze in Tokyo, became the first man to win the 100 and 200 backstroke at three consecutive U.S. Olympic Trials.
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It's a remarkable first in a country whose swimming history includes backstroke greats Lenny Krayzelburg and Aaron Peirsol.
“There are a lot of guys who came before me,” Murphy said. “I have posters of them on my wall. I don't think I'm better than them and I still have work to do, but I'm happy to take this win.”
Fresh from setting a world record in the 100-meter backstroke final on Tuesday, Smith expanded his program in Paris by winning the 200-meter butterfly in 2 minutes, 5.70 seconds.
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Coming into the final corner in second place behind Alex Shackell, Smith put all his effort into passing the 17-year-old, who took second place in 2 minutes 6.69 seconds and qualified for his first Olympic Games.
That was just the beginning of a busy night for Smith, who returned less than 45 minutes later to post the top time in the 200 backstroke semifinals.
Shackell's first Olympics will be a family affair: his older brother Aaron, 19, won the 400m freestyle on Saturday and qualified for the Olympics, and their father, Nick Shackell, swam for Great Britain at the 1996 Olympics.
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Douglas set a trials record in the 200m breaststroke with a time of 2 minutes 19.46 seconds to win, following up her victory in the 100m freestyle the day after by maintaining her lead until the end to take another victory.
“I'm really happy with my two wins so far,” said Douglas, who admitted she was a little nervous when she arrived at the qualifying round and saw a giant poster of herself plastered across the front of the massive stadium that will hold more than 20,000 fans for the final.
“It was definitely a bit scary at first,” she said, “but I felt the pressure watching it, but I think I handled it well. The crowd really helped me push myself to achieve my goals for the competition.”
Behind her, 100m breaststroke winner Lily King and Alex Walsh were battling for second place, but King stormed past Walsh on the final lap to take second place in a time of 2:21.93 with just metres to go.
That wasn't the only excitement of the night for King: Right after the race, her boyfriend proposed to her.
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Caleb Dressel, who was unable to defend his title on Wednesday after finishing third in the 100 freestyle and relegating himself to the relay, bounced back with the second-fastest time in the 50 freestyle semifinals.
Chris Juliano, the 100m freestyle winner, was the fastest in 21.59 seconds, while Dressel, who won five gold medals at the Tokyo Olympics, was runner-up in 21.61 and is aiming to return to the top ranks after retiring from the sport in 2022.
After Adam Chaney and Jonny Crowe tied for eighth place in the semi-finals, a lengthy battle ensued for the final spot.
Both swimmers recorded times of 21.79 seconds in the first swim, 0.1 seconds faster than their semifinal times.
In the second swim-off, Chaney took the final spot in 21.81 seconds, while Crow finished in 21.99 seconds.
